Profile:
The Writing Center,
Madonna University
In January 2007, the Madonna University Writing Center became a
stand-alone department under the direction of Ann Russell, Director
of Writing Programs. Initially, we hired 10 tutors. Coordinator
Frances FitzGerald wondered, “How are we going to keep 10
tutors busy?”
Now we have 20 tutors, and that question has been answered. Our
student traffic has quadrupled, from 510 tutoring sessions in winter
2007 to more than 2,000 in winter 2010. Fortunately, our space also
expanded when we moved into Room 1403 in February 2010.
Since 2007, the Writing Center has also experienced the merge of
the ESL and mainstream writing centers, as well as the introduction
of the writing assessment and the Writing Center-tied courses. Based
on courses created at the University of Michigan-Flint, Dr. Russell
introduced Writing 1000, Writing Workshop (for students with no
transferrable composition credits) and Writing 1150, Writing Review
(for transfer students with composition credits). Students in these
courses spend three or four hours per week working one-on-one with
tutors in the Writing Center. Each student works at his or her own
pace. A student’s writing assessment score determines whether
he or she takes one of these courses for one, two, or three credit
hours—or not at all.
Our tutoring staff includes 16 student (peer) tutors and four ESL
tutors (adjunct professors with a master’s degree in TESOL).
All tutors undergo between nine and 14 hours of professional development
training every semester. In addition, the Writing Center staff reads
six or seven articles on writing center- and tutoring-related issues
every semester, and we use a Writing Center blog to discuss how
these articles relate to our work with student writers.
Besides one-on-one tutoring, tutors visit classrooms to present
on topics ranging from APA and MLA to revision and essay test-taking
strategies. They also work with peer-review groups in classrooms.
In addition, we offer live online tutoring, via Blackboard, for
distance and homebound learners.
Members of the Writing Center staff have presented at state and
regional writing center conferences, started a campus writing group
(Madonna Pen), published an online literary periodical (MU Voices),
and held campus readings. We started the “sticky poetry contest,”
in which poems have to fit on a Post-it note, in summer 2010. Along
with the library, the Writing Center also co-hosts the Halloween
and Valentine's Day Research/Write-a-thons.
In addition, the Madonna Writing Center is reaching out to the community.
For example, in May 2010, Writing Center staff members provided
tutor training to residents at Henry Ford Village, a retirement
home in Dearborn. The residents are working with Henry Ford Village’s
younger, college-bound employees to help them with their scholarship
essays, in particular, and their writing skills, in general.
During fall and winter semesters, the Writing Center is open from
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday and Saturday. During the summer, we’re open from 12
to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.
|
